DPS jobs lacking utility?

[Shurrikhan]

What would be considered "good utility"?

Good utility is utility which allows for multiple but deliberate and impactful means of approach. It therefore requires not only a good kit but also appropriate contexts.

In game design 'utility' can be really hard to codify, because it comes in two flavors: Tangible (Ex: Trick attack, dance partner, regens, leylines), and Intangible (Ex: En Avant).

If utility is something that is adding to a numerical value that your constantly comparing, it is easy to design but can often feel either invisible (Ex: Bard songs), helpful (regens when they won't ever be a difference maker in even getting the healer one more cast), or overwhelming (old trick attack or piercing/slashing debuffs for example). Its also hard to make even really strong ones feel good or to make them noticeable for your teammates. A few feel REALLY good (Leylines) because they both are a meaningful DPS increase AND are visible in how they are helping you (It isn't an accident many of the 'fun' utility is a speed increase, because casting more is very visible), but overall even when these are good they lack any real 'highpoint' compared to a big attack with a flashy animation.

Agreed, though I'd argue that if a parser is required for a given utility to be visible, let alone a comparison of multiple runs, it's not remotely tangible. (Dance Partner, for instance, would fall among those, at least outside of Devilment and sometimes its stacked AoE heal.) Opposite, a skill with situational value (such as En Avant) is a tangible gain when pertinent situations arise. The main problem is crafting situations to allow for pertinence enough for tangible utility without constraining means of successful interaction to that utility.

Consider, for instance, a would-be lethal AoE. If the AoE has no fall-off over range and movement skills are relevant, the fight becomes constrained to those movement skills. Alternatively, if the AoE has linear fall-off over a considerable range, the difference of a mere 10 yards may not be quite as noticeable as one would like. The perfect solution, then, is likely one which allows for but softly punishes or constrains preemptive movement, such that laggy players can skill escape with Sprint alone (and that Sprint would have no need to be on cooldown), but in which the AoE nonetheless feels timely and punishing enough that those movement skills significantly aid safety and/or uptime.